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 Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2014 7:55 am
Scarlett Arbuckle Sorry for... whatever this turned into. XD
Still, being here meant he wasn't making any headway in proving his family wrong. As much as he hated being ever-threatened by wildlife, he hated being wrong even more. So, since he was here... with a group of trained soldiers... Wouldn't it make sense to actually practice with a real weapon? Instead of the sharpened stick he'd been using? A spear was hardly an appropriate weapon for him, anyway. He wasn't some heathen like creatures that actually lived here. He should be practicing with a sword or a crossbow or anything that required actual skill to wield.
With a sigh, he leaned against a wooden railing and watched as two soldiers eagerly sparred against each other.
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Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2014 8:23 pm
Normally, Shalvesta was the one settled against the wooden barricades that had been built around the training area, her eyes eagerly, but confusedly following the trained motions of the fighters in the makeshift arena. Lately she'd come to understand at least some of the motions, but she had a long way to go. But when she came today, her usual spot was occupied by a somewhat... surly looking prentice. She paused, biting her lip, but finally walked a few feet away and instead settled to lean against the wood, farther down, taking a few curious glances towards the other prentice.
He looked thoughtful, but also somewhat..annoyed. If anything that convinced Shal not to seek out his attention, or give him a reason to turn his annoyance on to her. But at the same time, the longer she remained silent, the more awkward it got, standing almost next to a stranger without speaking. "Have they... been fighting long?" She finally asked, hoping to break the water with an impersonal question.Fluffesu Don't be, it's fine! XD Sorry I took so long to respond~
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Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2014 8:08 am
Scarlett Arbuckle Alright! I'm off vacation, so I should be able to keep up much better now!
He sighed. Anyway, it was too late for him to try and swap weapons now. He already felt accustomed to holding a spear. It was too much work to try and get used to anything else. He shoved the thought from his mind and directed his attention back to the other prentice. He extended a hand for the woman to shake. "My name is Xilarn."
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Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2014 11:59 pm
...Oh. Shalvesta jumped slightly when the teenager flinched, turning her gaze quickly away from him with a somewhat sheepish air, her fingers tapping lightly at the barricade between her body and the fighters within. For a moment it felt like he was gazing at her, and she wondered if his gaze was incredulous, offended, or embarassed in the same way she was - but finally he spoke, and his words were gentle, far from the rash reaction she'd half expected.
She relaxed, as much as she would let herself in the company of a stranger, and peeked at him from the corner of her eyes. As intimidated as men made her feel, she needed some sort of rapport with other people - and that was impossible if she hid away from any person she could try and introduce herself to. "They... normally start on dummies, first." Shal said by way of explanation, ducking her head a bit and raising her shoulders, as she smiled in some embarrassment.
Her body turned towards the fellow prentice, and Shal fought to hide her surprise at the extended hand, but after a moment she reached for it and gripped it in her own, giving it an aborted shake before drawing her hand away, a bit quicker than was polite. But at the very least she offered a smile and bowed her head in a respectful way, which she hoped would make up for any offense.
"Shalvesta. I... haven't seen you here, before. Are you a soldier, Xilarn?" While, somehow, her words didn't stutter, her voice was quiet and faltering, as if she had to steel herself and force herself to speak. It was just her quiet prayer that he didn't see this as her being loathe to speak at all, to him. Fluffesu Sorry for the wait, I got a new job and it's exhaustinggg XD
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Posted: Sun Jul 20, 2014 7:16 am
Scarlett Arbuckle Dun worry about it. XD I know those feels!
Xil chuckled humorlessly. "I wish," he retorted. And then regretted it almost the instant that he did. Because just watching them fight made him realize how much he didn't want that life. Sure, he wasn't completely prepared for the wilderness and the wilds of Juahar now, but soon he'd be free of them and wouldn't have to worry about it any longer.
he shook his head and cast his clay-colored eyes at the other Prentice. Seemed kinda shy. A little soft-spoken. Nothing like his brazen warrior sister. "And you...?" He asked hesitantly. "You don't really seem like the type to be out here hunting for savages."
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Posted: Sun Jul 20, 2014 3:51 pm
The fellow prentice didn't seem very glad to be here. Then again, other than a few excited soldiers who seemed eager to serve their country in battle, most soldiers Shalvesta had seen had grown quite tired of being on campaign, especially during the long pause after the battle during which they established their trade routes between home and the battle front.
She didn't blame the young prentice for not being especially enthused. After a long moment, during which he held the look of someone who had tasted something sour, Xilarn looked at her again, and Shalvesta found herself turning her eyes, quickly, away from him and instead to the training soldiers, who had paused and switched out to a new, fresh-faced pair. Him pointing out how oddly she fit in made her smile, despite herself, shrugging a slim shoulder in silent concession. "It's true, I'm no soldier. I...I'm afraid I'm more at home at this camp than the jungles around it. I've, um, yet to set foot out there, to tell the truth." She flushed as if in shame, then looked at Xilarn again, a slow and almost careful glance, as if being caught looking at him would make her more embarassed.
"I've heard stories of strange creatures out there - I ... didn't like the idea of leaving the camp unless - unless I had some means of protecting myself." She said by way of explanation.
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Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2014 11:21 am
Xil couldn't help the way a bitter laugh erupted from his throat. This girl was certainly smarter than he was, even if he had trouble admitting it mentally, never mind out loud. He'd stormed from home on his own, with all the purpose and intent in the world, but had ultimately achieved nothing. Maybe if he'd been smart enough to stick close to an Oban camp, he would've better learned how to defend himself, rather than running about weak and blind in the forest for weeks, relying on Juahar's natives not to kill him on sight.
"It's understandable," he murmured, running his fingers through his hair. "The first creatures I ran into was a hoard of carnivorous bugs. Big and scary. I hadn't seen anything like them before..." And the only reason they hadn't captured and eaten him was because some Shifter woman swooped in to save him. It certainly had nothing to do with his own power... But if the bugs treated trespassers like that, he'd hate to see what actually fand-and-claw predators could do...
He swallowed and shook the thought away. He was here now. He had a chance to redeem himself, even if it meant running into Daia or Cether... "Oh, wait," Xil blinked, startled as he turned back to the girl. "Is that why you're watching the soldiers fight? So you can try and pick up a few of their tricks?"
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Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2014 2:06 am
That laugh - it wasn't the sort one made when you were having fun. Shalvesta swallowed thickly at the sound of it, as it cut her to the core, but she couldn't understand why he was so seemingly upset, or why he would bare his teeth like that in such a painful laugh. She gazed at him uncertainly, her lips pressed together, eyes narrowing more in concern and a bit of suspicion than actual upset. This expression shifted quickly, however, when he spoke - and mentioned... bugs. Carnivorous bugs.
She was suddenly very glad she'd opted to get trained here, first. Her eyes shot wide, mouth dropping open, and Shalvesta seemed to pale at the description. Surely he was ... spinning some sort of tale to freak her out. Soldiers teased, after all - and if she showed weakness then after he'd smirk then laugh at her gullible response. But he seemed just as haunted as she felt.
After a moment though, he looked at her, looked somewhat alarmed, though why she didn't understand. The girl did flush a bit - as he was spot on in his assumption. "I... yes. It helps, sometimes." She mumbled, embarrassed. She didn't really understand the moves they made, but at the same time it helped, she thought, to see how to respond. Whenever she trained though, with her teacher, her body didn't have these response times - it was slow, sluggish, and often her limbs shook so much that any parry that came across was easily knocked aside, and usually out of her hands entirely.
"It is... it is a legitimate form of study." She found herself defending, despite herself.
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Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2014 9:53 am
Xil turned to the mock battle, watching as the two soldiers ducked and parried and jabbed at each other with their blunted practice weapons. He'd seen his brother and sister spar a few times (not many, since they didn't care for having him around), and that hadn't done much good for him in the past few weeks. "I suppose," Xilarn murmured, unconvinced. He leaned forward against the fence, propping his elbow against the wood and laying his head in his palm.
He hadn't been that motivated to learn combat. He couldn't see himself diving headlong into a fight, even for something he was passionate about. Xil just wasn't that wild about risking getting hurt... However... "I bet you'll learn much quicker if you see what's actually out there." Xil shrugged. "Sure, getting slugged during practice sucks, but is that enough motivation for you? I didn't even try and pick up a weapon until my life was genuinely threatened." He smiled at Shalvesta. "I guess you're farther along than me, though. You didn't need to be threatened to want to learn to fight."
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Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2014 7:16 pm
He doubted her. Flushing half in shame, half in indignance, Shalvesta leaned a bit further over the partition, her lips pressed together slightly. Most of her life she'd been told never to correct or interrupt a man, and that 'training' wasn't going to wash away in only a few weeks. But she wished to explain how knowing the basic moves, as taught by her teacher, had helped - knowing which parries were which meant she could identify when a trainee used it, and against what sort of thrust. The warning signs of a particular move - what sort of position a body had to dip into to pull off a certain move. Before, she had never quite had much care if anyone misunderstood swordplay, but despite the fact she was only learning it for self defense, Shalvesta found herself rather drawn to it.
She enjoyed it - not just because she was learning to defend herself, but because the moves and quiet strategy of swordplay was fascinating.
She shouldn't feel offended that this wasn't to Xilarn's interest, and yet she still felt herself prickling just slightly when he leaned against the fence, his posture one of complete and utter boredom. 'It isn't meant as an offense, do not take it as such - you've been amongst the nobility too long.' She thought, shamed by her reactions.
After a moment though, he continued, and now Shalvesta's bristles smoothed, and instead she gazed at him, thoughtfully. Before she had thought her answer through, Shalvesta found herself letting out a soft laugh, her eyebrows furrowed as if minutely pained. "You're right, your life being threatened will spur you to do almost anything. But you're wrong to think that threat can only be found out in that jungle." After all, hadn't the threat to her own life come from within this 'picturesque' society? It was true she'd never encountered carniverous insects, or vines, or the sort of dastardly creatures out in the jungle. Those were terrors she'd never faced, and no she'd never had her own LIFE threatened. But she'd FELT threatened, in one way or another, for a long time, so she could see the wisdom in his words even despite that.
After a long moment of thinking, deeply, Shalvesta realized what she'd said - and flushed a deep red, her shoulders hunching, pushing herself away from the fence with a wince, ducking her head. "I... I'm sorry, that was out of turn." She said, quickly, unable to look up at him, her lips pressed tightly together.
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Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2014 7:00 am
"I don't remember saying you could only find threats out there," Xilarn retorted with a shrug, completely heedless of her apology and caring even less that she'd thought to disagree with him out loud. Shalvesta, at least, wasn't rude about it, like some certain female members of his family...
In any event, he'd been one to lead a comfortable, if not boring life (save for the antics caused by his siblings) back in Oba. His parents were stern and dutiful, and his siblings as painfully annoying as one would expect of two older brats. Xil had never really had anything to be afraid of. More often than not, he was just bored and lonely. Of course, he wasn't so naive as to think everyone led the same dull comfortable life as he did. And he had no doubt that Obans could be just as threatening and cruel as anything out here, if not more so. he cast a glance at Shalvesta from the corner of his eye. Oh yes, people could be exceptionally cruel. Especially when it came to women that looked like her.
He tipped his head, long braids swinging over his shoulder and hiding his face. "Anyway, I was definitely... kind of surprised," he admitted on a murmur. "The forest is undeniably out to kill whoever it can, but the natives..." The savages as he'd repeatedly called that strange chipper fellow with the antennae. "They don't seem particularly bloodthirsty or even violent... The ones I've met have even been helpful, for some reason."
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Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2014 4:11 pm
She expected the youth beside her to become offended, but - if anything he shrugged her comment off, agreeing with her even. After taking this in, the girl forced her posture back into something more relaxed, even if she didn't feel that leisure dip back into her countenance. Her rosy eyes gazed at her companion, curious but also hesitant to push his seeming good graces. Through looking at him, she noticed the glance shot towards her, and quickly looked away, back towards the fighters instead.
That is until he continued to speak. This sort of information she couldn't afford to pass up, not even if her nerves felt shot from her earlier frankness. "Natives - you've met with natives? How did you survive?" Survive uncaptured was a better question. He had mentioned them being helpful, but surely they wouldn't be so WILLINGLY - had he hidden in the brush, following a native as it maneuvered around the hidden obstacles of the jungle, perhaps? Because surely these natives would sit and laugh to find an Oban straying into the jungle, fed upon by the local dangers.
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Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2014 4:13 pm
Scarlett Arbuckle *wiggles* I think I'll be able to use this as his last RP credit for him to grow~ SO MUCH EXCITE.
He scuffed his toe against the ground as he leaned forward against the barricade. The tussle inside may just as well be forgotten as his mind wandered to the barbarians he'd met so far. There was that first woman, who'd fed him, taught him, and even given him shelter of sorts. He literally had no idea what she gained from actually teaching him a few basic spear maneuvers and helping him figure out how to survive in this forest. And then that boy, Kennet, the one who couldn't be that much older than him. Xil was ready to pass him off as just being stupid or ill-trained. He'd had a weapon on him, so perhaps someone had tried to teach the little savage about their enemies. Whoever they were, they'd failed. "They had ample opportunity to kill me, capture me, or whatever else they could've done. But they didn't... I don't understand."
He sighed and clucked his tongue before turning a grin on Shalvesta. "I must just be lucky."
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Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2014 5:02 pm
And now, the perceived bravado and confidence ... drooped. At first Shalvesta half thought he was bragging about his survivability. Then again, if that was the case (at least fully) then he wouldn't be admitting his luck to a stranger. His honesty was probably what made Shalvesta look at him a bit closer, her head tilted, lips slightly pursed in thought.
That and, of course, the ... confusing mixed ideas about the savages they were at war with. The official mantra of the army was that their enemy was weak - but then they'd gone through a huge expense to move their war beasts here, to this jungle, to wage war. If their generals truly trusted the might of the army against these foes, surely they wouldn't have bothered with such a measure? So their enemy was skilled, even if very few people wanted to admit it.
Society wise, however, yes they were savages - at least from what Shalvesta had heard. Living in the trees, curled in vines and tree houses - they seemed to lack the basic refinement that their own society had 'flourished' in for decades. But just as Shalvesta had mentioned earlier, there were plenty of unseemly people in the Oban ranks. So - uncultured, but at least skilled in warcraft - but perhaps more idealistic than her own people? That had to be why they'd spared a prentice - perhaps they felt it wrong to lay harm on one who couldn't skillfully fight back? And capturing a prentice who wasn't dressed like nobility, maybe they hadn't wanted to expend the food to care for him properly?
Then again ... that girl that Shalvesta had met, Nera, had been captured and treated HORRIBLY - so it seemed wrong to try and believe these creatures weren't capable of cruelty.
Who knew. Shalvesta mused on it, but couldn't really come up with much more explanation than Xilarn had. "It makes you wonder." She agreed lowly. After a moment she pat her hands against the fence, pushing herself away from it, tilting her head and offering a small smile. "I hope your luck lasts then, my friend. ... Do you make a habit of traveling the jungles? Carniverous bugs - natives - t-that would be enough to make me stay away for a long time."Fluffesu Oh-ho!! Then I should make sure to post as fast as I can 83 (same)
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Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2014 7:12 pm
Scarlett Arbuckle Oh, yeeeah. First grown Obans. *brofists with*
He had an answer for her on his lips, about how he didn't have a whole lot of interest in the forest or the adventures it offered or the people it played home to (well, that last one would've been a lie, anyway), so he'd hardly call his endeavors a habit. It was more like an obligation, really... He wasn't skilled in fighting, yet he had to show his siblings up somehow.
But all that vanished as he realized that she was in just as peculiar a position as he was. She'd stammered at him just then, hadn't she? He could've imagined it, but he doubted that was the case. Even since meeting her, she'd been reserved and disturbingly polite and almost diplomatic about her responses. There was nothing wrong with that of course. It simply seemed... Out of place in a military camp. A military camp with a bunch of brusque soldiers. "It does seem like it should be enough to scare you away," he replied with a shrug. "But it hasn't yet. I can't help but wonder; what are you doing here?"
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